Monday, November 04, 2013

Barbers in Ontario to be forced to learn women's styling techniques

Barbers in the Canadian province of Ontario are facing the prospect of being forced back to school to learn how to do things like highlights and perms, some of them after decades of experience cutting men's hair. New provincial legislation forces about 300,000 tradespeople to be certified in their trade, from electricians to home contractors.

In 1998, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities grouped all trades related to hairstyling -including barbers - under the trade name of hairstylist. But the change to ministry documents and certificates of qualification didn't happen until earlier this year, and many barbers have operated without licences because they were rarely if ever enforced. Now, operating without a licence costs employees a $195 fine and employers a $295 fine for first offences. To get a licence, barbers have to learn the new combined curriculum for hairstylists, including perms, colouring and more.

Frank Olszynko, who has been cutting hair since the 1960s and has a licence from Quebec, thinks there should be a grandfather clause.
"We're barbers, we're not neurosurgeons," he said. "Why do we have to go through this? "Now you have to go to school, you have to put in 2,000 hours, you have to pay $5,000, you have to learn how to perm and colour and bleach and wave and God knows what. I don't even know any of that stuff, and I don't want to know. Personally, I'm just going to carry on like I always have," Olszynko said. "... I don't really care. I'm going to court, definitely. I'm not paying a fine. I'm not abiding by this stupid law."

Sam Lou said he's been cutting men's hair for 15 years and opened his own shop last month. The Ontario College of Trades enforcement officers found him without a licence and asked him to shut down. "I'm very angry. ... I feel like nobody supports me. The government wants people to be successful, open up a business and make a job, create jobs. I created a job, they came and shut it down," Lou said, adding that he's lost about $6,000.

This isn't a matter of sexism. It's a reflection of job protection and job security. It's not uncommon in a variety of medium-skilled professions for groups to require certification or licensure in order to keep down the number of competitors.

BWAHAHAHAHAH! "oppression of men in "feminist" societies" - thats hilarious!

As someone who lives in Toronto where this is happening, lemme tell you, it's just a money grab by the govt. If they can force people to get certified they get that money. The ministry of training and colleges is notorious for bad ideas... don't get me started. (Also, it's run by a man, so no, not a feminist plot, thats hilarious)

Typical misandrist response from the usual suspects. Men ARE oppressed in Western societies (but you, being a female supremacist, don't care). Taking degree choices and working hours into account, women are paid MORE than men; much more is spent on healthcare for women; men pay the vast majority of taxes and women claim the vast majority of benefits; there are female-only gyms but if men dare to have a club of their own they're all evil, misogynist pigs; men are only valued for what they can provide, women for what they are and if a man cannot provide, for whatever reason, he is worthless to society and is treated as such; modern literature, tv and film drama, portrays all men as worthless, feckless and stupid and all women heroic, intelligent and noble; women get shorter jail terms than men for committing the same crimes and it's presumed that it was a man who influenced or caused the woman to commit her crime; men are expected to lay down their lives to protect their family and their country and if they refuse they're cowards.

Feminism is a lie, based on a false premise and perpetually infantilises women, those delicate little flowers who need special treatment.

As a feminist who doesn't live in the area - the only way I can read this law is like you said, a "money grab." I see no reason why someone who does something as technincally unimportant and asethetic as hair should have to pay for certification and log hundreds of hours to learn skills it doesn't matter if they use. As a woman, if I want the style of hair that guy specilizes in, then I would go to him/someone of his skill set. If I want a perm, I'd go to a place that I know doesn't do shitty perms. (Not some person who hates doung them) To me this is as dumb as telling artists they need training in poetry, oil painting, and interior design before they can sell a watercolor. It just does not make sense to me. I mean, it would ONLY be a problem in my mind if I went in and requested a hair cut I know they do and they refused me because I was a woman. I've had women hair dressers tell me "I'm sure you don't mean that" when I've requested a typical boy cut, which technically sexist at its roots. The only issue I see is labeling types of hair cuts specifically for men or women. Who gives a fuck which style of hair someone of a certain gender chooses to get